After packing up camp, I talked the beau into hiking another small mountain with me. I reassured him that while I hadn’t done any research prior to the trip, local brochures/reports stated it was a much easier hike. (Blue was rated difficult and Goodnow was rated moderate with benches along the way -ha!) The drive wasn’t too long, maybe thirty minutes from the campsite and easy to find, with a big white ESF sign on 28N. I had told him that if the lot was packed, I was okay to go home; hiking on a “highway” especially in the heat is not my idea of fun. We laced up, signed in and headed up the trail at 10:19AM.

Immediately the trail goes up, similar to a Catskill hike, but quickly evens out. You can hear the traffic for quite a ways, but the forest seemed much greener and enjoyable than the previous day. We only noticed a couple of spots along for the guided tour; unfortunately there weren’t any print-offs at the start for us to read. I was surprised by the amount of trail work on this mountain: someone had been cleaning out the rock bars, there were a number of planks to walk on, a bridge and benches made of downed logs. It’s definitely a family friendly hike and lucky us, we only saw one family/group on the trail near the summit. Don’t get me wrong, you do climb a mountain, it just seemed like a breeze compared to Blue Mountain. After a final push to reach the summit before the group of kids, the fire tower was in view at 11:20AM.

There weren’t any views on the rock, but the views in the tower, as usual, were amazing. And this was a TALL tower! I’m becoming confident climbing them and this one made me stop two or three times to regroup… I just felt like I kept climbing and climbing… but it was worth it! And was very windy up top but the tower felt sturdy (unlike others I’ve been on). Just as we were soaking in the views, this little blonde girl, probably 5 or 6, came bopping into the tower with her dad; she was super cute! He took our photograph before the rest of the gang climbed in. We climbed down, ate a quick bar, and left the summit at 11:34AM – we had afternoon plans and needed to hit the road. The climb down was easy and uneventful – in the car at 12:28PM.

We were both starving by the time we reached the car, so we decided to make the trip to North Creek to grab some lunch. There was a cute little cafe, Izzy’s, that we each had a delicious sandwich at, and a local hiker decided to serenade us with a song on the piano. It was a wonderful way to wrap up a weekend away in the mountains. We’re already planning the next trip! Goodnow brought my fire tower count to 18/23 (my 13th ADK tower)

For the beau’s birthday he wanted to spend the weekend up North camping – I was NOT going to argue with that! It was the perfect opportunity to try out some of the wonderful items we were gifted over the last couple of months and the tent we purchased using gifted money; reviews coming soon!

We took off late Friday afternoon with a jam-packed Prius and were checking into the Lake Durant State Campground before 6PM. I fell in love with this location a few months back when Paula and I stopped randomly to check it out – there are many sites right on the lake with gorgeous views. We anticipated it to be far more crowded than it was because many of the sites were booked when we were trying to make a reservation, but it was quiet and we got lucky with site #22. Maybe many canceled because of the predicted rain? Their loss!

I quickly got a fire going after helping set up the tent aka castle because we were cooking over the fire: foil dinners! A super easy recipe I picked up from my parents: chopped potatoes, carrots, onions, red pepper and protein of choice. Growing up this was venison or a red meat, now it’s ground veggie “beef.” Add some salt, pepper, garlic pepper, vegetable oil and a vegan worcestershire sauce, fold it up into some foil (make sure it won’t leak when flipped) and cook for a good hour while setting up camp / enjoying a beer or two. So SO GOOD!

We weren’t up super late because we both wanted to hike in the morning… aka I wanted to get in at least one peak while being that far away from home. We decided on Blue Mountain because it was the closest to the site – maybe a ten minute drive up Route 28N just past the Adirondack museum. I hadn’t looked up any trail reports on this hike because I assumed it would be easy – Jen said it was fairly easy and Paula wants to finish with her grandson on this peak – golly, I didn’t think so at all! The parking lot was already half full at 10:15AM when we started out and it felt like the first 20 minutes or so were easy and then it went straight up. Realistically, I have no clue how much time or distance had passed until the change happened. All I remember was the sweat DRIPPING off of me and looking up and only seeing a steep, slab rock climb. The beau was happy to see it was kicking my butt too every time I had to stop for 30 seconds to catch my breath. After 1 hour 19 minutes, we reached the summit (approximately 2 miles)!

Also to note: the trail goes up the rock NOT along the sides! I felt like the entire way up on the not so easy section there was a second trail that people had made. This makes me sad because it’s only widening the impact we have on that mountain. I just wanted to yell, “get on the trail!” to the 75 people we must have passed along the way but I didn’t want to be THAT person.

The summit did have a view just past the tower and cabin. We bumped into the fellows camping next to us on site #22 and they took our photograph and chatted while we ate a much deserved bar. But the best view was at the top of the tower! We waited our turn and climbed up to enjoy the breeze. The view was picture perfect! I realized once we were in the tower that this was my first hike with my husband! Still sounds funny to say out loud. And I don’t feel old enough to have a husband.

We didn’t stay at the top too long because more people arrived and the bugs were a bother when the breeze wasn’t blowing. It took us just as much time to climb down as it did heading upward, probably because we did stop to chat with a couple of people about other hikes in the area and because I was picking up trash along the way. People just threw their baby wipes, water bottles, etc on the trail… and it wasn’t there on our way up. Very sad…

The parking lot was full when we signed out and there were many cars lining the road. It was a wonderful view and one worth checking out, but I’d suggest going during the week or during the winter / off season if you don’t like crowds. Maybe even a sunrise? This brought my fire tower count to 16/23

I realized after my last meal planning post last month that I wasn’t going to have the motivation to keep it up on a weekly basis. And they were kind of redundant. So, I’ve decided to share new-to-us meals that we’ve tried after the month has ended and give an update on how we did for that month budgeting wise.

Here we go!

We tried three new meals in May, all thanks to Pinterest. It finally clicked in me that I should be using what we already have on hand to save money rather than searching willy nilly on the internet for something new and then having to go out and shop more. I know, a simple concept but I was skipping that step. We have a lot of frozen vegetables in our freezer from various Field Goods deliveries and I’ve always thought best to keep them until we need them… but I’ve always overlooked them, even when we “seem” to have nothing in the pantry / fridge. I don’t want them to go to waste, so I’ve been trying to incorporate them more recently.

Pizza is not a new meal to us but the beau made a new kale pesto using a bag of frozen kale from the freezer. It’s always full of stems if just eaten as is, so he whirled this up and it was delicious! Pine nuts, fresh basil, EVOO, nooch – so good! We had a bunch leftover as well, that I ate on toast and we used in a pasta dish the following night I do believe. Sorry no recipe but do a quick Google search and get inspired! Don’t judge my horrible green pizza picture… the vegan cheese turns translucent when baked and the lighting was off… at least it tasted delicious.

Another item we have multiple bags of in the freezer: butternut squash puree. I love butternut squash roasted but didn’t know what to do with it other than make a soup… and the beau isn’t a fan of soups. He likes soups but honestly prefers to chew his dinner – ha! After a little searching, I found the OMG vegan butternut queso from the first mess. THIS is a keeper recipe for sure. It’s on the sweeter side but I added some pickle brine and lime essential oil and it was perfect. The original plan was to serve it over chips as nachos, but we didn’t have any chips left so we made home fries and steamed up some broccoli… almost like a loaded potato. We also had a bunch of this leftover that I enjoyed over toast with a vegan egg and mushrooms for breakfast a couple times throughout the week.

Tempeh scramble wraps with roasted broccoli and a jalapeno dip spread. I know, this sounds like a hella mess and flavors all over the place but the verdict: also a keeper! When you’re making the scramble, it smells like an Italian dish. Then you make the spread and it smells like an American appetizer. Roasted broccoli just doesn’t seem to want to fit in, but it all comes together, especially by adding the pickled jalapeño slices. They were devoured out on the back deck before I could care what it a photograph would look like. Little tip: the recipe makes a minimal amount of sauce. I’d probably triple it next time to make it worth using the Vitamix.

Japchae Korean glass noodles with tofu. We’ve had these sweet potato noodles in the pantry for months now and had everything else on hand so it was an easy decision to give ’em a try and clean out the fridge. The beau made them when I was at a local trail series, which was perfect because I had something to scarf down after coming home late / running miles. This recipe is also a keeper! If you’ve never tried sweet potato noodles, pick up a package at your local Asian market. They’re super cheap and easy to whip up – a fun texture too! Sorry no photograph – I was too hungry to even think about a photograph (but think colorful noodles).

Budget wise we did great! We had $191 left over in our envelopes that was then applied to outstanding debt. We ran out of grocery money probably mid month, and tapped into the other envelopes (eating out and alcohol) to cover expenses. We only ate out once – at Tara Kitchen prior to the wedding – and the beau did frequent DD on a somewhat daily basis for his large unsweetened ice tea. This month also included our wedding party = we have a SHIT TON of leftovers. I’m talking 20 gallon sized bags in our freezer. You can barely open the doors! Annnnnnnd we’re both pretty sick of Moroccan food. My plan is to defrost a meal once a month until gone. Four bags are just the seasoned rice that we can incorporate more frequently but the meals, that’ll take some time until space is freed. I joke that some couples save a slice of their wedding cake to eat on their first anniversary… we’ll still be eating Moroccan leftovers! I think I’m also going to practice dehydrating meals such as this for hiking… get ready Paula!

We came up with an additional $115 extra dollars this month to also apply to outstanding debt. This included returning our cans and bottles (holler 6 cent center), cashing in scratch-offs from the holidays and an unexpected check from Young Living.

Dear Beau: This weekend you climbed two mountains and ripped your new pair of hiking pants. I hope the views were just as worth it for you as they were for me. Dear Tent SO big I could use it as a garage: I promise to take care of you for many years to come and to invite as many people in to enjoy the bathtub bottom. Dear campfire: you thought you’d defeat me with your $4 wet wood but Jona: 2 Campfire: 0. Dear Husband: cheers to another year around the sun!

Monday was tough for both of us, exhausted from an adventure-filled weekend. We’re both daydreaming about buying land up in the Adirondacks and building a small solar powered cabin to run away to throughout the year. And kayaks. And a Subaru. But first, our guest bedroom in Troy. It’s pretty swell here too in the little city we call home.

Preface: I apologize if the photographs are sideways 🙁 I’ve been making a conscious effort to take photographs with my iPhone the “right way up” but for some reason when I upload them, it still turns them sideways. I was super excited about these photographs because I knew I took them all in the “right” direction. I do edit the photographs in WordPress but it still shifts them on any other computer than mine. I’m frustrated too and will have to spend more than five minutes looking into this. If you know the solution – please share!

A couple of weeks ago Paula and I traveled back down to the Catskills to hike two more peaks toward our Catskill 35: Southwest Hunter and Rusk Mountain. They were described to me as two semi-easy bushwhacks and I quickly glanced over the trip reports she sent to me, but to be honest, I didn’t think much into these because I’ve hiked trail-less peaks in the Adirondacks… that turned out to be NOTHING what we experienced that Saturday.

We started on the trail at 7:30AM and it was still cool enough for a long sleeve, but I had secretly wished I was in shorts. The trail was super easy to follow and the waterfalls along the way were worth the stop to admire. At the junction, we followed markers toward Hunter Mountain and began our climb. The trail was wet in some places, but not as bad as I had anticipated; one could easily hop from rock to rock to avoid a wet boot. We ran into a small group of hikers coming down with large packs – they had spent the night in the leanto and forewarned us about the ice and the need for microspikes. Check! We had those! Side note: they had an Australian cattle dog and I officially want one. Looking into the breed, they like work and I’d love to have a hiking/running partner. May have to look into a rescue soon…

Microspikes were definitely needed and we probably wore them for a good three miles (total) of the trip. The two of us were chatting along and eventually we reached a section in the trail where it looked like it wandered off to the right. We checked the map and both agreed that that spot could be the turnoff for Southwest Hunter. It was an easy bushwhack because that section of the mountain was cooler than the East side and there was a packed ice trail for us to follow. Within thirty minutes, we found the canister!

After a quick snack, we made our way back down the mountain, running into another couple who were about half-way done with their 35. We chatted a bit and took mental notes on a couple peaks we have yet to summit, and made our way down to the waterfalls. By this time, the temperature was probably in the mid sixties and there were crowds of people enjoying the views of the falls. We kept moving on, only to stop about a half mile later to eat lunch by the water. This was a fairly easy hike for me, a little over 7 miles in 5 hours (including lunch).

Now, for the interesting hike of the day: Rusk! We moved our car down to the other lot and headed up the other trail toward Hunter (I took this trail last time with Jen) at 12:38PM. Paula stated that once the trail takes a sharp hairpin turn to the right, we’d go left. We reached this junction at .60 12:53PM and let me tell you, the “trail” up was non-existent. We literally just had to wander up into the woods until we reached the top, then hike toward the left to reach the summit. No other way to describe it – the woods with no leaves looked identical when spanning 360, luckily we could see Hunter off in the distance for reference. We used my compass to hike W-SW for the majority of the way. It was tricky and a little scary to be honest – I felt like my footing was never secure and I felt like I was just zig zagging up the mountain. The good news was that I kept finding little scrapes on rocks which gave us the clue that others had hiked there once with microspikes (at this point, there was NO snow whatsoever).

The climb was STEEP, relentless really, to the point where we’d take 20 steps and then stop to catch our breath. At one point, we noticed the climb evening out and Paula asked me to run up ahead to confirm it was flat… kinda I said. Ha! The ground did even out and that’s when we started heading to the left (S). Eventually, the forest opened up and we could make out a faint heard path. We followed it for a good ten minutes, past this cool gnarly tree, and then all of a sudden I saw the canister glittering in the sun. We had made it! (2:27PM) We gave each other a hug, took some photographs, signed into the canister and then I plopped myself down to take my boot off and let my feet stretch. Going up something that steep really made my feet ache. Also important to note, previous hiking trips estimated the distance to the summit to be 1.85 miles. My watched said 1.83! We didn’t zig zag too bad.

On the way down, we followed the heard path until it got to the point that our instincts were telling us to head East, but the trail didn’t end. We turned regardless and started the long trek down. It was even more difficult blazing a trail going down: our feet slipped and slid all over the place, not fully trusting each step. Occasionally the leaves sunk multiple inches, almost post-holing. Nothing, absolutely nothing looked familiar to me and I began to worry a tad bit. I could still see Hunter Mountain off in the distance but I didn’t see any signs of outside life. Except for a random deflated blue balloon… I wonder where that traveled from? I started to beat myself up for taking everything out of my pack – no extra layer of clothing, no emergency bivvy. My watch was at 3.6 miles: we should have been back to the car at that point. And then, Paula recognized a downed tree. When I looked up, like the canister at the summit, there was the marked trail! I shouted back to her and could have dropped to my knees to kiss the ground! Realistically I knew we weren’t going to spend the night in the woods but golly, I wasn’t prepared for this kind of bushwhack mentally.

We crossed the small stream and as we stepped foot onto the marked trail, it started to rain/sprinkle. Despite how flat the trail was, my feet ached and I couldn’t go any faster. It was a long half mile back to the car. We finished 4.2 miles at 4:35PM. I was thankful I wasn’t in shorts because despite it being a warm spring day, my legs would have been all scratched up. 14/39

HI THERE! Jona Lee is a daughter, sister, friend & the editor and blogger of zeelemons. This blog is little bits of her everyday life- exercise, eating healthy as a vegan, moments she'll want to remember forever and an occasional love letter. She lives with her kitty + beau in Troy, New York.